Step 3
To what extent you were expected to follow a scripted curriculum, or add your own ideas to a curriculum that already exists, or create a unit that is entirely new?
I was expected to follow a scripted curriculum and was actually given a book club Journal and Teacher Guide to follow. At first I thought I was suppose to use this to create my own lessons but when I proposed my unit to my MT, she told me she wanted me to follow the Journal closely. Therefore I rewrote the lesson staying with the confines to the Journal. About three quarters of the way through my unit, my MT decided to inform me that it was okay if I wanted to change some things. This was very frustrating but I did take the opportunity to come up with a few of my own lessons that used the Journal as a base.
What was unproblematic and/or challenging about planning a unit in this context?
I think the most challenging part of this unit was sticking to the Journal’s curriculum and follow the order of the Journal, even when I felt it would be better for my students to change the order. Another challenge I had was getting feedback from my MT. During my lessons she would sit in the back and take notes on her computer but it was hard to get more out of her than “I thought that went really well”. I would try to engage in her discussion about the lesson but she would simply stick to “it was good” or “that went well”.
What obstacles did you face? How did you overcome them?
To overcome these issues I spoke to my field instructor and she helped me come up with a way to sit down with my MT and be honest about what type of feedback I wanted. From these conversations, I was able to talk with her about what I wanted to do with the students, in terms of pushing them in their writing. We were able to come up with a plan of attack, which allowed me to use some of my own things in the unit and get away from the scripted curriculum.
What dilemmas (if any) did you face and how did you manage them? Consider issues that may relate to developing your professional identity, developing strong teacher-student relationships, constructing relevant curriculum, or assessing students in meaningful and productive ways.
One dilemma I faced was how to approach my MT appropriately to ask for more concrete feedback. We have had very open relationship and I am comfortable talking to her, but I was not sure how to approach this professionally without making the situation awkward in any way. Another dilemma I faced was how to take notes on what students were doing in book clubs. I began the unit with a clip board on which I would take notes about the students but I quickly realized I was not sure what I was looking for and when I asked my MT about what she looks for, she really did not give a me a solid answer and eventually I gave up taking notes and spent the time engaging the students in discussion rather than sitting back. I never did get a good response from my MT on this no matter how I tried to bring the discussion back to the topic.
What enabled you to be successful?
I think what enabled me to be successful was working with Kim, my team intern and getting a few ideas from my MT as to direction and the amount of personal reflection that I do each day. After each day at the school, I write a journal entry and that helped me process the day’s lesson and where I wanted/needed to go the next day. Another thing that helped was talking to my MT about ways to help the students with their writing and then incorporating that into their mini lessons.
Did the unit proceed as you expected? Why or why not?
The unit proceeded as I expected in that we made it through the lessons as expected. What did not go as expected was the students’ writing levels. Both my MT and I had made an assumption that our students were further in their writing then they actually were. As the assignment progressed, it became very clear that students were not a level of writing that we thought they were. This lead to some changes in the focus of what we were looking for from them in their writing prompts. It also changed are emphasis and some of my mini lessons changed to address the writing needs of the students.
What surprises or “aha moments” did you experience?
I think the biggest surprise that I had during the unit was how little experience my students had with writing and how explicit I had to be with them on how to write. There was a huge range of writing experience in my students. Some students had had a lot of experience while others had had very little. A big ‘aha moment” for me occurred when I was able to stop and listen to the quality of discussion that was going on in the book clubs. During discussion I heard lots of wonderful writing but as soon as my students were asked to write down their thoughts, it was like they hit a brick wall. They had a hard time expressing themselves through their writing.
What do you still need to learn about teaching in this target area, about your developing your ‘core practice’ and about teaching literacy in general?
I think the biggest thing that I still need to learn in this area is what to be looking for when I observe students in their book clubs and what types of notes I should be taking. I know what you are looking for changes with the objective of the lesson, but some basic things that a teacher can always be looking for would be nice and give me a springboard to work from.
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